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Chapter 129: Anti-Imperialist Communist Organization 【Gyeongseong Troika】 (1)

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People so obsessed with an ideology that they fell into delusion tended to share one symptom.

Historical revisionism.

When historical revisionism was carried out in real time, it became reality revisionism. And to revise reality, one naturally needed enormous 【standing】.

Lee Jae-yu.

The idol of this era's communist activists.

[The Man Who Could Not Be Caught] had remained in a holding cell after refusing to speak throughout three months of interrogation following his arrest. He had clearly been caught, yet he had somehow made the very fact of his capture disappear!

'No, but... there hasn't been anything in the papers yet...'

Han San stopped thinking and sighed.

What greater humiliation could there be for the Government-General's Police Bureau?

'Of course they've imposed a media blackout...'

Outwardly, the left and right were working together to declare, "Nothing happened!" Beneath the surface, fierce clashes raged every day in this world's Red underground.

"Sajang."

Chuk Jae-seok, a Red man whose roots lay in that underground world and who had watched those clashes unfold, took a deep breath.

"Jae-yu is hiding in a Japanese person's home right now. Near Daehangno. But police constables have completely flooded the area... Jae-yu suffered terribly and was injured in several places, so in his current condition, getting out of Gyeongseong..."

Chuk Jae-seok fell silent for a moment.

He hesitated several times before finally forcing out the words, as though overcoming every conflict and shred of shame within himself.

"Could you perhaps... help Jae-yu get out of Gyeongseong, even just a little..."

"Just a moment."

Han San raised a hand to stop him and sank into thought.

Help the Red Prince, Lee Jae-yu, get out of Gyeongseong.

'It's dangerous.'

To repeat, this was someone who had brazenly escaped while being interrogated at Seodaemun Police Station for nearly three months.

He couldn't even imagine how humiliated the Police Bureau must have felt, or how desperately it now wanted Lee Jae-yu's head to make up for it.

'And besides...'

What had the Empire's Silver Fox said at the Soyang Bridge completion ceremony?

[ A substantial portion of the Government-General's limited resources is currently going into rice control. Railways come next. Would communist organizations come after that? ]

Baekbaekgyo hadn't even made the list, while communist organizations on the peninsula already ranked third among the Government-General's priorities.

'If I get caught after sticking my nose into this...'

Everything would be gone.

Literally everything!

Han's Myriad Commerce, the position he had built up all this time, none of it would matter. It wouldn't matter if the Silver Fox had sought a handshake from him or Governor Lee Beom-ik had given him a silver cup. His head, and the heads of everyone connected to him, would roll one after another like sausages on a string.

That was the era they lived in.

'What could I gain instead?'

Hmm... honestly, nothing.

Maybe the pool of educated people available when he needed staff for the publishing house would grow a little?

'But the people joining that pool after I save Lee Jae-yu would be blood-red extremists, redder than a red moon. What would I even do with people like that...?'

He had wanted to ask Chuk Jae-seok whether he knew any educated people because he figured there might be some with lighter political leanings. He wasn't looking to turn the publishing house into a vat of red pepper paste.

So there was only one answer.

As he had said many times, a sajang's job was to walk the line between the profits to be gained and the risks they had to bear.

"I'm sorry that your friend is in such danger, Jae-seok..."

Han San sighed.

Chuk Jae-seok, who had been looking at Han San pleadingly, squeezed his eyes shut and lowered his head.

"I'm sorry... I made such a shameless request. Sajang, you've never even seen Jae-yu's face..."

"Tsk."

Han San sighed again, then rose from his seat.

"I'll give you some leave. Go clear your head."

Chuk Jae-seok looked stunned.

"No, I don't need leave... I'm already sorry for not being able to focus on work..."

"Enough."

Han San spoke firmly. Chuk Jae-seok froze as he looked at him, then realized something.

'Ah.'

This wasn't really about giving him leave.

Han San was openly pulling the chair out from under him.

'That makes sense.'

With a bitter smile, Chuk Jae-seok took an objective look at himself.

He hadn't been able to focus on work for months. Because of that, he had nearly caused the company to close during the promissory note crisis...

And he had even lost all sense of judgment and asked for help rescuing Lee Jae-yu.

'What use would anyone have for someone like me?

And besides...'

Everything he had said so far implied that he and Lee Jae-yu were close. To the company, that made him nothing but a risk.

If he had been the sajang, he would have thrown himself out too.

As Chuk Jae-seok thought that far, Han San braced a hand on the desk and stood.

"Then get ready to go on leave."

"Do you mean... right now?"

"Yes. Right away. This instant."

With that, Han San headed outside.

Clang.

Chuk Jae-seok stared silently at the closing door, then lowered his head with an even deeper bitter smile.

'Right. This is how it should be.'

Reds could be hidden away and used cheaply if necessary. The pointless jokes and laughter they shared were only possible while their interests aligned.

But what about him now?

People could smile at each other only while they remained within a line that was safe for both sides.

He had clearly crossed that line.

'Hm.'

Chuk Jae-seok understood.

His own situation. The sajang's choice. This intellectual, born into a good family before running away from home to throw himself into social activism, understood all of it completely.

Still.

He felt just a little lonely.

'Ah...'

He raised a hand and pressed the frame of his glasses.

He really was an ungrateful person.

How dare he sit here feeling hurt?

The sajang could have been far crueler. Han San could have immediately brought in either Sawada, that Japanese military policeman he was close to, or the Special Higher Police officer from the Chuncheon police station who had shared meals with him a few times, and handed Chuk Jae-seok over.

The Government-General, desperate for even the tiniest clue after Lee Jae-yu's escape, would surely reward Han San handsomely.

'So I should be grateful to the sajang, not resentful.'

Perhaps the reason Han San had told him to leave right away was that he was wrestling with such thoughts himself.

No, that had to be it.

Half of Han San wanted to hand him over to the Government-General, while the other half remembered the bond they had formed. Perhaps he had put off reaching a conclusion because his thoughts were tangled with questions of what to do about Hong-cheol, Myeong-su, and the other existing Chuk Brothers executives.

'The sajang is only nineteen.'

Han San usually seemed so mature, like some superhuman who could accomplish anything. Yet he was nearly ten years younger than Chuk Jae-seok. It was shameful for someone his age to keep putting a boy like that through such tests.

'I should leave now.'

The instant Chuk Jae-seok hardened his resolve.

Click.

The door opened.

Thinking he should at least part with a smile, perhaps for the last time, Chuk Jae-seok broke into a broad grin.

"Sajang, all this time, I truly..."

His smile froze.

A man had entered, his face wrapped in a red hood with holes cut out for only his eyes.

"?????"

Chuk Jae-seok's mouth fell open.

The man in the red hood was obviously Han San, but Chuk Jae-seok had no idea why Han San had returned dressed like that...

Han San walked over and sat in the chair opposite him.

The scrape of the chair finally brought Chuk Jae-seok back to his senses.

"Uh... Sajang? Why are you wearing that mask...?"

Still wearing the red hood, Han San tilted his head.

"Sajang? What sajang?"

"What? No, Sajang..."

"I'm [Red Mask]. No one knows who I am beneath this mask."

The seventy-four-year-old man who had watched the 1988 Olympics and professional wrestling several times said this as he opened his eyes wide through the mask's eyeholes.

Chuk Jae-seok went beyond stunned and became utterly dumbfounded.

"No..."

"More importantly, aren't you ready yet?"

"What? Ready for what...?"

"Didn't you ask me to help you rescue your friend?"

Chuk Jae-seok didn't understand for a moment.

"Let's go together. That's exactly the kind of thing someone like Red Mask would do."

A moment passed. Then he understood.

And once he did, his dumbfoundedness turned back into bewilderment. He truly didn't know how to contain his emotions.

All he knew was that something deep in his chest had gone tight, beginning in the depths of his heart.

Han San scratched the back of his masked head and furrowed one eyebrow.

"Let me make this clear. If things get dangerous or I think the operation's ruined, I'm running by myself immediately. No matter what happens, I'm confident I can get myself out alone. Don't think I'm going to die with you. Understand that clearly.

"Han San, the sajang of Han's Myriad Commerce, might have had enough loyalty to die alongside you. But sorry, that guy doesn't really like Reds.

"And me, I'm Red Mask, right? An ultra, ultra, ultra Red who can't even recognize his own parents or children. If I need to run alone, of course I'll run alone..."

Chuk Jae-seok looked at the rambling Han San with tears welling up in his eyes.

Then.

Then.

"Sajang."

"Red Mask."

"Red Mask-nim." Chuk Jae-seok closed his eyes, then opened them. "Are you sure about this?"

"About what?"

"Like I said before, Red Mask-nim, you've never even seen Jae-yu's face..."

"Of course I've never seen Jae-yu's face."

Han San, who had been a Gangwon native since the Japanese colonial era and had even received a local commission during the Korean War, considered himself a proper, staunch conservative.

Why would someone like him have ever seen the face of some Red idol?

But.

"I've seen your face quite a lot, Jae-seok."

Chuk Jae-seok's expression trembled.

"Sajang, no, Red Mask..."

Chuk Jae-seok hardened his resolve further and tried to speak.

"I should tell you now, but my real name isn't actually Chuk Jae-seok—"

"Jae-seok is Jae-seok."

Han San rose from his seat, still scratching the back of his head.

"Is the name important? What matters is what kind of person the chief secretary is."

He had been born into a wealthy family and even studied abroad before entering the activist movement for the sake of the weak.

He was quite competent at his work and only floundered or made mistakes when his mental state was shaken. Though he bore some responsibility for it, he had been the first to suggest pooling their wages when the company faced a promissory note crisis.

And he knew how to be loyal to a friend.

"Like I said, I've seen your face quite a lot, Jae-seok."

That was enough.

Chuk Jae-seok opened his mouth, then closed it.

After taking a deep breath, he smiled faintly.

"I look forward to working with you, Red Mask-nim."

"Likewise. Keep taking good care of things from now on. And try not to create situations like this if you can..."

"I won't."

At that moment, whether Lee Jae-yu could be rescued was no longer the most important thing to Chuk Jae-seok.

No, it was important. But something more important settled in his heart.

Deeper than when he first read Marx. Perhaps deeper than when he saw people suffering.

It was the realization that life might not be as lonely as he had thought.

If he ever had to die for someone, Chuk Jae-seok vowed that he would die for the boy before him.

Then he said,

"From now on, I'll never cause trouble for you. In any sense. Absolutely."

Han San waved a hand.

"Oh, come on. No need for 'never' and 'absolutely.' Is that easy in this world? Just know where the line is and don't do anything that'll make people frown. You're a smart chief secretary. Let's just work well together."

Chuk Jae-seok's smile deepened.

Han San cleared his throat and turned away.

"Anyway, let's go. To rescue the Red Prince."

The operation to get Lee Jae-yu, one of the era's biggest-name Reds, out of Gyeongseong.

Commenced.

Footnotes:

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